RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS FOR DETERMINING CAR HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS

DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN HANDLING, WHICH IS THE BEHAVIOR OF A CAR-MAN COMBINATION IN ACTUAL DRIVING, AND OTHER VARIABLES, SUCH AS VEHICLE DIRECTIONAL RESPONSE PROPERTIES AND VEHICLE COMPONENT DESIGNS. THE RELATION BETWEEN CAR-MAN HANDLING BEHAVIOR AND SAFETY (AS INDICATED BY THE FREQUENCY AND EXTENT OF ACCIDENT INJURIES AND FATALITIES) IS DISCERNIBLE IN ACCIDENT STATISTICS. BUT THE RELATION OF THE CAR-ONLY PORTION (ITS DIRECTIONAL RESPONSE PROPERTIES) TO THE FREQUENCY OF ACCIDENTS AND CONSEQUENTLY TO THE EXTENT OF INJURIES AND FATALITIES IS LARGELY UNKNOWN. FURTHERMORE, THE RELATION OF THE VEHICLE RESPONSE PROPERTIES TO ACTUAL HANDLING IN THE DRIVING POPULATION IS POORLY KNOWN PARTLY BECAUSE OF DIFFICULTIES IN DEFINING HANDLING WITH SUFFICIENT OBJECTIVITY TO ALLOW FOR ITS MEASUREMENT. THE PAPER BRIEFLY SUMMARIZES PRESENT PRACTICE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAR DESIGN TO A HANDLING CRITERION, AND PRESENTS SOME BASIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR RESEARCH STUDIES THAT WILL RELATE HANDLING BEHAVIOR TO VEHICLE PROPERTIES. A HISTORY OF THE RECENT INTEREST IN RELATING HANDLING TO VEHICLE PROPERTIES IS ALSO INCLUDED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1968/247/247-007.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Vehicle Characteristics and presented at the 47th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Versace, John
  • Forbes, Lyman M
• Publication Date: 1968

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 63-82
• Monograph Title: Road user characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 247
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Design; Drivers; Handling characteristics; Highway safety; Traffic crashes; Vehicle characteristics; Vehicle performance
• Uncontrolled Terms: Handling
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222953
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 8 1994 12:00AM